Yesterday, I saw the following graph that shows cumulative public and private job losses and additions. What it shows is that the there was a big loss in private sector jobs, but we’ve gained them all back. This doesn’t take into account the people who have been added to the workforce, but it does indicate that the private sector is on the mend.

Public sector jobs, however, have just seen a steady decline. That little spike was for the census, so don’t even consider that. This shows the lie of the Republican talking point that we have seen explosive government spending under Obama. Just to stay even, the government should have been steadily adding jobs because the country is growing.

You would never know this given the reporting on conservative media. You would never know it listening to conservative politicians. And this is one of the reasons our policy is so screwed up. We do not have an honest discussion because one side of the political spectrum doesn’t even concede the basics facts. Of course, if they did concede them they would say they it was a good thing, because they just know the government is too damned big!